Dave Sandford is a sports photographer by trade but he has branched out into some startling nature photos.

He said on Bored Panda:"Recently, I have felt drawn to the lakes that are virtually in the backyard of my hometown of London, Ont., Canada. Specifically, the awe-inspiring Great Lakes. Lake Erie, the 4th largest of the Great Lakes caught my attention for this photographic essay. I chose to focus on Erie at a time of year (mid-October through December) when the Great Lakes can act more like oceans than lakes. With warm sunny beach days behind us, it is some of Autumn’s dark, cold and windy days that transform the Great Lakes into wickedly wild and treacherous bodies of water.Lake Erie is 388km in length and approximately 92km across. It is also the shallowest of the Great Lakes, with an average depth of 62’ and the maximum depth of 210’. Lake Erie’s name originates from a native tribe who called the lake “Erige” (“cat”) due to the unpredictable and at times dangerously violent nature. Because of the shallowness of the lake, conditions can change dramatically in just a matter of minutes, with fierce waves springing up unexpectedly. Lake Erie’s unpredictable and violent nature has laid claim to some 1800-8000 shipwrecks dating back to the 17th century, most of which have never been found.Over the last 4 weeks for 2-3 days a week, sometimes 6 hours a day, I did the 45 min drive to Lake Erie. The images here were made using my Canon gear, 1Dx body, 400mm & 70-200mm lenses, protected from the elements by my Aquatech sport’s housing and sport’s shield gear. Shot during the month of November on the North shore of Lake Erie, about 500’-600’ off-shore from a small lakeside community called Port Stanley, Ontario. Daily temperatures ranging from -2 up to 14 degrees celsius, sustained wind speeds of 45-50km/ph, gusting 70-100+ km/ph, the average water temperature of 11 celsius, and wave heights reaching 25’. It is days like these that most people stay away from the lake… It’s days like these, when Erie comes alive, showing it’s true power. These are the days I can’t wait to get to the lake and create images!"

The crispness of his images makes the waves look as though they are made of sand or rock. Water looks grainy. Waves become mountains. And the spectre of death rises in the last photo to point a finger...

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

From a statement on the artist's website, written by Arnd Wesemann (and roughly translated into English):"Filled up with helium, floating freely in room, atransparent [sic], membrane-like globe, spiked with charcoals that leave marks on the walls, ceilings and floors. Marks which «ADA» produces quite autonomously, athough [sic] moved by a visitor. The globe obtains aura of liveliness and its black coal traces, the appearance of being a drawing . The globe put in action, fabricate a composition of lines and points, which remains incalculable in their intensity, expression, form however hard the visitor tries to control «ADA», to drive her, to domesticate her. Whatever he tries out, he would notice very soon, that «ADA» is an independent performer, studding the originaly [sic] white walls with drawings and signs. More and more complicated fabric structure arise. It is a movement exprienced visually, which like a computer make an unforeseeable output after entering a command. Not in vain « ADA» reminds of Ada Lovelace, who in 19th century together with Charles Babbage developed the very first prototype of a computer. Babbage provided the preliminary computing machine, Lovelace the first software. A symbiosis of mathematics with the romantic legacy of her father Lord Byron emmerged there. Ada Lovelace intended to create a machine that would be able to create works of art, such as poetry, music, or pictures, like an artist does."

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Brazilian artist Alberto Oilveira seems to operate in the great tradition of Latin American Surrealism. Starting as a painter, Oliveira moved to digital photography and manipulates his images to reflect a murky, submerged, vaguely science fiction-y world full of magical views and unexplained phenomena.

I was born in a cloud...Now I am falling.I want you to catch me.Look up and you'll see me.You know you can hear me.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.We're over a forest.There's millions of snowflakes.We're dancing.The world is so loud. Keep falling and I'll find you.I am ice and dust. I am sky.

I can hear people.I think you are near me now.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.We're over a forest.It's midnight at Christmas.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.I think I can see you.There's your long, white neck.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.Now I am falling.Look up and you'll see me.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.In a moment or two.I'll be with you.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.Be ready to catch me.The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you.

About Me

About "Oh, By The Way"

"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”

I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.

Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft) and I will be happy to provide a link.

I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain ME. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.

All-time Favorite Films

2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)

After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)

Amelie

American Beauty (Alan Ball)

Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)

Belle et Bete (Cocteau)

Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)

Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)

Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)

Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)

Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)

Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)

Easy Rider

Edward II (Derek Jarman)

Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)

Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)

Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)

Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)

Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)

Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)